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Topic: Tom Milone needs to be on your Radar (Read 3687 times)

Tom Milone isn’t a prospect. Blessed with a below average fastball, he’ll never win over the scouts touting the radar guns. Heck, he might not even have the respect of the hitters he’s handling with ease on a night in, night out basis. But pay that no mind. He’s a lock to win Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. In short, Milone is the real deal. Don’t believe me? That’s fine; I’ve got a hunch Tom Milone will only be too happy to continue to prove the doubters wrong.

BP and Kevin Goldstein definitely not a fan of Milone. From today's chat:

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sf882 (Northern VA): Why does Nats AA SP Tom Milone get no recognition? Sure he doesn't throw 95 but his numbers are eye-popping. Shoe-in for Eastern League pitcher of the year.

Kevin Goldstein: Because numbers aren't everything. There are a lot of pitchers who can put of big numbers in the minors with skillsets that don't work nearly as well in the big leagues. 15-20 minute discussion on this subject in the most recent podcast, which I hope you folks have given a shot to, I'm really proud of it.

"Moyer throws an average fastball between 82-84, touching 86. He has a plus curve and plus change-up. He relies on changing speeds and hitting his spots. Is unlikely to survive against advanced competition. He is still left-handed." --

tom milone's report>"Milone won’t overpower anyone with his fastball, typically in the 84-87 mph range, but few pitchers in the college game possess his command or feel for pitching. He topped the Cape Cod League in wins last summer while walking seven and striking out 46 in 52 innings, and assembled a solid 6-5, 3.02 senior year at USC, walking 19 and striking out 92 in 89 innings (through mid-May). Milone’s strength is that he can spot his pitches at will, particularly an above-average changeup. He is what he is, however, as he has little or no upside. But he should get a shot because he’s a lefthander who can pitch."

well look at moyers carrer, and how milone's striking out ppl with a slow pitch? this guy has a chance to make the rotation.

He seems to have great great control, I like these kind of pitchers (i.e Chien Mien wang) but Milone seems to know how to throw strikes. I don't recommend nats pitching prospects relying on nats defence to get them outs, and to count on someone named Ian Desmond

Look, Andy Sonnanstine, in over 550 minor league innings, put up a 2.76 ERA with a 503-85 strikeout to walk ratio. He throws a fastball/cutter/slider/curveball repertoire at hitters. He also averages less than 87 MPH on his fastball, and has a career ERA of 5.22 in part because he started giving up more homeruns in the majors than he did in the minors. Major league hitters not only make more pitches into mistakes, they also do a lot more with those mistakes.

Milone might be the rare person who can overcome a severe velocity deficiency, but it's really hard to succeed in the majors on command alone.

Look, Andy Sonnanstine, in over 550 minor league innings, put up a 2.76 ERA with a 503-85 strikeout to walk ratio. He throws a fastball/cutter/slider/curveball repertoire at hitters. He also averages less than 87 MPH on his fastball, and has a career ERA of 5.22 in part because he started giving up more homeruns in the majors than he did in the minors. Major league hitters not only make more pitches into mistakes, they also do a lot more with those mistakes.

Milone might be the rare person who can overcome a severe velocity deficiency, but it's really hard to succeed in the majors on command alone.

Eh, put some rubber bands on pitching arm to shore it up. No big deal.

Look, Andy Sonnanstine, in over 550 minor league innings, put up a 2.76 ERA with a 503-85 strikeout to walk ratio. He throws a fastball/cutter/slider/curveball repertoire at hitters. He also averages less than 87 MPH on his fastball, and has a career ERA of 5.22 in part because he started giving up more homeruns in the majors than he did in the minors. Major league hitters not only make more pitches into mistakes, they also do a lot more with those mistakes.

Milone might be the rare person who can overcome a severe velocity deficiency, but it's really hard to succeed in the majors on command alone.

Left handers have a much easier time overcoming velocity challenges than right handers like Sonnanstine do.

At this point, what's left to prove in the minors? The jump to AAA hitting is not that much of a difference. It's not like he could be that much worse than guys we've ran out there this year, Atilano, Mock, etc. etc.

There are 13 pitchers in the majors, out of the 127 who've thrown more than 100 innings, who average less than 88 MPH on their fastballs. There are just 4 who average less than 86 MPH, or basically throw as hard as Milone.

Those four are Jamie Moyer, Livan Hernandez, Mark Buerhle, and Barry Zito, who I would argue are some of the greatest "pitchers" in the majors right now (pitching, I would argue, is a matter of your results relative to your "stuff").

All I'm saying is that to succeed, Milone likely has to be a guy with that type of deception, command, and intelligence.

Not impossible, just not likely. It's more likely he's one of the many guys who can dominate minor league hitters with command but won't be able to strike out enough guys or prevent enough homers to succeed in the majors.

Can anyone pull his numbers to compare his called strike 3 to swinging strike 3 strikeouts? I think that woud give a good indication to if it's his command that strikes guys out or it's his stuff. Because he does strike a lot of guys out.